IanR

Even if there was a force/energy that we didn't understand, dowsing could be proven to be more effective than plain chance, but unfortunately it can't.

It would need to be drawn-up in a Section. You upstairs space depends on eaves height, ridge height and foot-print depth. To get the 1st floor to at least 50% of the area of the ground floor is likely to need rear dormer(s) and gables each side (assuming ridge is running side-to-side).

Hi and Welcome. Whereabouts in the world is your planned self-build? In England, you can't have a Treatment Plant discharging within 50m of a private water extraction point, for human consumption. Even if your location allows that, it's a good rule to stick to. Does this not dictate your construction method to one of timber-frame?

You might be able to get to the 1 bed 2 person requirement of 58m² with a 2 story chalet, depending on how much area was lost on the 2nd floor due to restricted height, but you wont get to the 2 bed 4 person requirement of 79m² unless the local vernacular would allow a modernism/brutalism, flat roof style.

For new builds the National standards are a minimum and they're mandatory (in England). Councils can set a higher Minium if they wish, but can't accept lower. 40m² allows a 1 bed, 1 occupant house. I believe that would restrict you to a bedroom between 7.5m² and 11.5m² in size. If you went larger than 11.5m² it would be considered a 2 occupant home which requires 50m².

I'm not sure if restricting your potential clients down to a niche area is a good plan for a new business. You should consider casting your net as wide as possible, until you're able to generate enough work within the niche you wish to specialiase.

Mine is a Glulam ridge with I-Joist rafters. Design by CTD.

You could try Cullen Timer Design, but not sure if they'll be cost effective for just the roof. Typically they Design/Engineer the whole frame.

Based on the above, your neighbour is misinformed when he says: Unless he can park in such away that you can stil access the land under your ownership, with a motor vehicle.

Nope, line loads are used to calculate the loads the walls put into the foundation. ie. 10kN/m = just over 1 Tonne-force per meter length of wall. Edited to add: From the Drawing

The drawing Key helps you here: First figure is dead load, second is live, the units will be kN/m.

It sounds like you were attempting to offset the new residential area with the existing agricultural area, for the purposes of CIL. Is that what you were attempting? Unfortunately you can not do that - for the CIL calculation the council wants to know how much additional residential area is being created by the proposed development. You can only offset an existing residential area that you are demolishing for the proposed development. Can I ask why you are not applying for self-build exemption? or are you and the council is confused?

Are you able to measure CO2 levels in your house? The BC requirement for mechanical ventilation when you are under 3m³/m².h@50Pa infiltration is a really rough proxy air quality. For your own benefit it would be better to know the CO2 levels without MVHR and if it goes above 1,000 ppm then you'd be better off having MVHR, and if above 2,000 ppm it would be a health risk not to have MVHR. I've tried running without the MVHR on between Spring and Autumn, and I don't like bathrooms not drying out as quick as I've got used to, even with a small window open...

Sounds like you should park in front of your garage, until you get hold of the Title to prove access rights. Assuming the Garage was there when you purchased the property, it would have been your Conveyancer's job to ensure you had Access Rights.

What is it you want to do with the CAD software? If you want visualise the staircase within it's environment, then a lighter-weight software such as Sketchup will be quicker to learn and it's polygon/tessellated database is sufficient for the task. If you wanted to create photo-realistic rendered images of the staircase then Blender is a good option, and completely free. If however you want to create an Engineering 3D model of the staircase, with accurate models ,thicknesses, fillets, holes with the ability to build associated assemblies, with a catalogue of stock hardware (bolts, nuts, screws, rivets etc.) and sub-assemblies where global changes to the staircase automatically update through to all parts in the assembly and the ability to develop blanks of folded brackets, cutting lists, weld details and associated 2D Engineering drawings that update when the 3D model changed, then you need a NURB/Bezier based CAD system, which will tend to have a steeper learning curve. If you are wanting to create something that was going to be manufactured from, at a fabricator, then I'd be looking at a mid-tier CAD system such as Solidworks, Creo, Solid Edge etc. most of which can now be leased monthly. Free for 6 months is OnShape, which gets close to these systems for the basics. However, if you're going to just do this once, it may not be worth the trip up the learning curve, there's a lot of content in a design like a bespoke spiral staircase if you want to fully define it "in CAD" and have a workshop manufacture it for you. In this case I'd suggest a seasoned professional.

I don't know of the Internorm "thermoplastic insulated threshold", but the image above shows it taking bolted/screwed fixing so I'd put the brackets on to the threshold and suspend the lower portion in air, where you are going to cast the raft. Put some threded bar through the holes in the (initially) unattached end, using a nut either side to hold the threaded bar in position, then cast the bracket into the raft. You'll have to temporarily, externally, back up the threshold so that it doesn't move during the pour.

While the Plan you attached is "to scale", it's incorrectly called out as an A4 sheet size. Image below shows in the bottom right hand corner that I have set the scale in Acrobat as per drawing 1:500. Units are mm The 50m scale on the drawing measures 49,920.09mm However, the above is directly off the digital file. If you do as the drawing states and Print to A4 it won't be to that scale since the sheet size is actually 594 x 841 (A1) not 210 x 297 (A4), as defined in the file's properties: So, while your Architect has made a mistake, the Council are being a little picky. All dimensions they require are called out on the drawing. They don't need to "scale" anything.

Yep. I don't know Greenraft. The image on their website appears similar to Isoquick, but without the bespoke insulation pieces. I'd recommend Advanced Foundation Technology, and use them as a baseline to compare others to. He doesn't specialise in insulated rafts, he shouldn't be upset if you choose to use a specialist.

Yes. Isoquick is an option, but they are not optimised. You'll pay more than you need to for steel and concrete and you'll have more mass to heat up for the UFH.

You'll need to be worse than 3m³/m².h@50Pa, with trickle vents closed, otherwise BC should require you to have a mechanical ventilation system. Without mechanical ventilation you will need trickle vents in windows. There's no payback directly on MVHR, but, MVHR enables a < 3m³/m².h@50Pa infiltration rate. It's the low infiltration rate that provides the payback on the MVHR. ie. the reduced energy loss from, say, having a 0.5m³/m².h@50Pa infiltration rate pays for the MVHR.

Have you got the install instructions for the FCU you have imaged? Does in not install 180º from the way it is pictured, inlet at the horizontal and outlet at the vertical? You mention keeping above dew point. What kW of cooling are you expecting from a 14°C water feed? They're really for single room recirc. My loft is the warmest place in the house, often around 26°C. I think you'll be warming the bedrooms below rather than cooling.

Thinking about it, but not done yet. Have you got a reason for wanting to take air from the loft and circulate it to the room below? Typically you'd recirculate the air within a closed off room, ie. inlet and return into the same volume. It's not going to be powerful enough to cool/heat the whole house with a single unit.

I'd assumed it was PV array area. Max height 4m and 5m distance from boundaries. Mines not going within the defined domestic curtilage, so I'm going to need planning anyhow.

Only "theory" not put into practice. Typical PV panels could be installed for the same or slightly less, using S5 bracketry and avoiding a full frame. https://www.s-5.com/products/solar-panels-on-metal-roof-pvkit-2-0/?_gl=1*e60zsa*_up*MQ..*_ga*NjE4NTUzMDA2LjE3NDExNzkwNzQ.*_ga_PCT1SK6CMV*MTc0MTE3OTA3My4xLjEuMTc0MTE3OTA4NS4wLjAuMA.. I agreed this wouldn't effect warranty with the roof installers before the standing seam was installed. I also looked at flexible bonded PV panels. You can get them preinstalled on steel trays, or retrofitted onto other standing seam materials. I looked at retro-fitting. Costs were higher, performance less efficient, and they had no rework plan should you want to replace the 25 year life PV on your 60 year life roof. https://bipvco.com/flextron/ This is the one job I have procrastinated most on and have now decided to go with a ground mount array.

It would be better to not think the negative response you received was due to corruption. That would leave you under the likely misapprehension that it will be easy to counter once others are considering the details. Mistakes do get made and maybe this is one of those occaisions. You would need to set out your application to counter the issues raised by the officer. The Consultant you used should explain to you why they feel the Planning Officer's argument cannot be challenged. Ask for a face-to-face meeting, and keep asking questions until you understand his/her new point of view, or until they have accepted yours. It's unlikely to be black-and-white, It may help you understand if there is a way around the Planning Officer's arguments against development. If you still can't understand the Planning Consultants view, then perhaps get a second opinion. Planning applications, and their appeals are long and drawn out, you need to be sure that you have understood why your opinion is different to the Professionals.